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José Mourinho had already seen enough. The full-time whistle had yet to blow, but the Tottenham coach rushed down the tunnel, head down and hands in pockets, after watching his team fail on a handball failure that has quickly turned into the biggest talking point of the Premier League season.
It was the fifth minute of injury time and Tottenham saw a 1-0 lead against Newcastle when a ball was thrown into the Spurs penalty area from a free kick. A header from Newcastle substitute Andy Carroll struck Eric Dier’s outstretched arm as the Tottenham defender looked away, and loud calls from Newcastle players echoed through the empty stadium.
Almost inevitably, a penalty was awarded after the referee took the opportunity to watch the incident on the pitch monitor.
Callum Wilson converted the penalty for Newcastle’s first shot on goal throughout the game, the visitor was about to escape with a 1-1 draw, and a disgruntled Mourinho did not want to stay.
Premier League: Newcastle win late point at Spurs amid more handball controversy
It was also a day to forget for Mourinho’s great technical rival Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City team conceded three penalties, none of them for handball, however, and lost 5-2 at home to Leicester.
Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick, two of them from the penalty spot. There have already been 20 penalties in just 25 Premier League games this season, and there are likely to be many more as defenders struggle to adjust to a recently adopted interpretation of the defensive handball rule.
Tottenham players were baffled by the referee’s decision to award Newcastle United a late penalty that ended 1-1. – Fake images
The Premier League has aligned itself with the rest of European football this season and applied the decision in a stricter way rather than judging it on intent. Like Robin Koch, Victor Lindelof, Matt Doherty, Neal Maupay and Joel Ward before him this season, Dier was judged to have made his body abnormally larger by having his arm extended when he was hit by the ball, leaving the referee little. option rather than granting a sanction by the letter of the law.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said the newly adopted rule was killing the game after his team lost 2-1 by awarding a handball penalty for the winning goal. Mourinho chose not to criticize the rule for fear of collecting a fine from the Football Association, but his Newcastle counterpart gave his opinion.
“It’s total nonsense,” Steve Bruce said.
Vardy’s hat-trick sees Leicester beat Man City 5-2
“We have one today and we should be jumping for joy and through the hoop, but I’d be devastated if it were against us.”
Players from the past and present also spoke about their opposition to the interpretation of the rule.
“The FA must start asking some serious questions,” tweeted Jan Vertonghen, the former Tottenham defender who recently moved to Benfica. Absolutely shocking decisions and they hide behind the referees.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher urged the game’s governing bodies to resolve this. “This nonsense penalty is ruining the game,” Carragher tweeted.
In the early game, Leeds beat Yorkshire rival Sheffield United 1-0.
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